Possible Complications From Being Obese
Obesity is not just a cosmetic problem, it carries with it serious health complications that can threaten your life. Complications such as abnormal blood fats, certain cancers, diabetes, fatty liver disease, fertility issues, gallbladder disease, heart disease, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, and also stroke.
Abnormal blood fats occur from a diet high in saturated fats such as eating a lot of red meat and fried foods. This type of diet can lead to obesity and elevated levels of low-density lipoprotein or the “bad cholesterol“. Those who are obese typically also have low levels of the high-density lipoprotein, which is the “good cholesterol”; they also usually have high levels of triglycerides. Triclycerides in case you were unsure of what they are, are the form in which most fat is in food as well as in your body. If you have abnormal blood fats, over time, this condition can contribute to atherosclerosis, which is when fatty deposits buildup in your arteries throughout your body resulting in heart disease and stroke.
There is a curious thing about obesity and breast cancer in that women who are obese and are not yet menopausal have a lower risk of developing breast cancer than women of normal weight but after they go through menopause obese women have a 1.5 times higher risk for breast cancer than women of normal weight, according to the American Journal of Epidemiology 2000.
Obesity can lead to life-threatening diseases including depression after repeated diet failures and putdowns from society, family and friends. Other life-threatening diseases include high blood pressure and heart disease, which can lead to strokes, kidney damage and heart attack. Fat deposits in the tongue, and neck can cause off and on obstruction of the air passageway, called “sleep apnea” which can be fatal.
When an individual is obese they can develop a resistance to insulin. Insulin is used to regulate blood sugar levels if you have high blood sugar levels over an extended period of time it can lead to type-2 diabetes, which in turn can lead to serious damage to the body.
What is fatty liver disease?
Fats can build up in your liver when you are obese. This accumulation of fat then leads to inflammation and scarring of your liver. The scarring can lead to cirrhosis of the liver. Cirrhosis of the liver doesn’t just happen from drinking alcohol.
Men and women can experience fertility issues as a direct result of being obese. If a woman is obese during her pregnancy, she runs the risk of developing gestational diabetes, which could increase her baby’s risk of birth defects.
More cholesterol is produced when you are obese, which can become deposited in the gallbladder, which then gives the individual an increased risk for gallstones. Unfortunately if you lose weight fast (3 pounds or more a week) you also run the risk of gallstones.
An obese person has a lot of weight on the joints, especially the knees and hips. This extra weight on the joints can put a lot of wear on the joints as well as cause inflammation and pain. This painful inflammation is called “osteoarthritis”.
